Fueled by the momentum of the Alaska Battle Cats Tournament in Anchorage on April 12, Popeye wrestler Ravi Cavasos, cadet 135, went undefeated for the second straight weekend and did not get scored upon. At a freestyle tournament in Eagle River last weekend, Cavasos pinned all four opponents in less than two minutes in each of his matches. 

His aggressive style on his feet and powerful half nelson-cradle series is scoring him lots of points. Cavasos will be one of the Popeye hopefuls in two weeks at the State Tournament in Wasilla.

Another cadet having a good season in a weight class below Cavasos is Jaime Rios, 126 pounds. Rios won two matches last weekend before losing a close 7-5 match to eventual champion Caleb Hopkins of Tri-Valley. Rios had a great come-from-behind victory a match earlier when he was losing 10-4 against Joe Perkins of ABC and caught Perkins on his back and won by a fall. Rios is always in the match and never doubts himself. He ended up in third place.

Open division wrestler Joe Garcia was the only competitor in his weight class, but wrestled an exhibition and lost 7-1.

Pre-Bantam Saoirse Cook, 40 pounds, won four matches all by pin in less than two minutes. She scored bear hug attacks from her feet and was able to use half nelsons to get her opponents to their backs. Cook placed second, losing only one match.

Austin Shafford, novice 85 pounds, won four matches convincingly until he got to the finals against Hunter Sasser of Tri-Valley. Sasser used a very defensive strategy against Shafford. The score was tied up at 3-3 when Shafford attempted an arm spin. After a short scramble, Sasser was able to put Shafford to his back to end the period and win 7-3.

Ian Stovall had one competitor and placed second, losing 13-12 in the schoolboy 80-pound weight class.

This week the team will focus on practicing and preparing for the state meet in Wasilla on May 1-3.